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Emailed bomb threats force about 300 Italian schools to evacuate

Meloni says there is no concrete danger, and schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland got similar emails that police call not credible.

15 news outlets reported this
Liberal5 outletsHoax emails as part of Europe's hybrid-warfare worriesCenter6 outletsOfficials say hoax, not genuine dangerConservative4 outletsHoaxes with no attributed source, no state link
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Hundreds of schools in Italy received an emailed bomb threat on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and many were evacuated as a precaution. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said about 300 schools were affected. The New York Post reports he put the number evacuated at 312, and CBS News says at least 6,300 Italian schools got the message.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there is no sign of concrete danger and described the threats as meant to stir alarm and worry. She convened a meeting of ministers later in the day. Copies obtained by Italian media show the email also threatened Meloni.

It was signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan," the same name on threats sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria on Friday. Schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Ireland got similar emails, and police there said they are not credible. Authorities have not blamed any group or state.

CBS News and the New York Post report that no explosives or suspicious devices have been found. The threats follow bomb hoaxes against flights and cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration in Europe. Valditara called the Italian case probably a cyberattack, not a genuine risk.

Key figures
  • at least 6,300Italian schools that got the threat, per CBS NewsCBS News
  • 312Italian schools evacuated, per Valditara as quoted by the New York PostNew York Post
  • Some 300Italian schools evacuated, per the AP reportABC News
  • at least 470Scottish schools that got the threat, per The Telegraph as cited by TownhallTownhall
  • more than 300Northern Ireland schools sent emails, per the BBCBBC News

Three sides of the story

5Liberal6Center4Conservative

15 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal5 outlets

Hoax emails as part of Europe's hybrid-warfare worries

CBS News opens with thousands of schools in Europe getting apparently hoax threats, at least 6,300 in Italy, and ties them to "hybrid warfare" concerns, quoting MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum on Russia and Iran. Al Jazeera English leads with about 6,300 Italian schools receiving the same email, quotes Valditara saying "there is a strategy at play," and notes France summoned Iran's ambassador while Russia denies suspicions that it orchestrates a disruption campaign and calls them a smear. Both describe the email signed by "Mikhail Andropov," and Meloni's statement that no concrete danger exists.

ABC News runs the AP report: some 300 schools evacuated, a threat against Meloni, and an 18-year-old Rome student describing a "pretty violent" email. CBS also cites Garda and Northern Ireland police.

Center6 outlets

Officials say hoax, not genuine danger

Deutsche Welle leads with the email that reached 312 Italian schools at 10 a.m. Antonello Giannelli, who leads the national association of school principals, is quoted calling it "clearly the work of a hoaxer." BBC News opens with Valditara describing the threats as probably a "cyber-attack, not a genuine risk." The cities hit are listed, and alarms were quickly lifted in many places.

It also quotes Umbria's regional head, Stefania Proietti, saying checks in schools there were negative. Newsweek stresses hundreds of schools in at least three countries and says authorities everywhere doubt the threat is credible. It quotes Defense Minister Guido Crosetto: "The strategy is to create concern."

DW also carries Crosetto's remark that attention-seekers and lunatics may be behind such messages. The Seattle Times runs the AP report on some 300 evacuated schools and Meloni's statement.

Conservative4 outlets

Hoaxes with no attributed source, no state link

The New York Post runs the AP report. Italy evacuated hundreds of schools, while Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland reported no evacuations. The report adds that "no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to a government."

It quotes Valditara saying 312 schools were evacuated and that the real risk is "almost non-existent." It also quotes Crosetto on how easy it is to send such an email, and a Rome student describing how classmates mistook the alarm for the recess bell. Townhall opens with the flight diversions that came before the school threats.

It then assembles posts from Clash Report, Sky News, The Telegraph and Police Scotland. It cites The Telegraph for at least 470 Scottish schools receiving the threat. It quotes Police Scotland saying the emails "do not represent a credible threat."

Townhall's own text adds, "we have to wonder if there's a bigger agenda here."

Where outlets disagree
All sources: 20 articles from 15 outlets

Liberal (7)

Center (8)

Conservative (5)

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  4. US agencies warn businesses of hacker threat to commercial refrigeration after attacks in Europe
  5. Emailed bomb threats force about 300 Italian schools to evacuateThis story